Sunday Paper Article about MLK

I was drinking my coffee and reading the paper this morning and wondered what was actually MEANT by that statement: "so near-providential as to give the most hardened atheist pause". Providence still has a PLACE in our history? REALLY? Divine intervention is such a cop-out. I can't believe that people BELIEVE in that anymore but obviously I'm in the minority opinion here.

(On a side note: I suppose some people are looking at Hurricane Irene as some sort of sign that god doesn't want the memorial to be dedicated today...there must be a REASON for it......)

And I'm curious about the term "hardened atheist" because it makes it sound like we're a bunch of 'hard-hearted' people that have reached our viewpoints by being contrary just for the sake of being contrary.

I think it's also interesting that patriotism and Christianity are so tightly woven together. Anybody else has to put up with having their patriotism and loyalty and moral fiber questioned. The author of the article, Charles Krauthammer, refers to MLK as a 'prophet'. What a loaded term to use. He slips it right in there like nobody is going to notice!

“No, I don't know that atheists should be considered as citizens, nor should they be considered as patriots. This is one nation under God.”

A lot of believers think that we aren't even to be considered citizens -- let alone patriots. Plus the fact that they believe that there are "no Atheist in foxholes", whereas there are many Atheists in the military.

The author of that article is a fox news neocon. His opinion doesn't mean much to me. I find him to be much more hard hearted than any humanist I know. He uses the religious fervor to tamp down all the thinking.

What is interesting is how Mr. Krauthhammer utilizes the Christianized profile of Dr. King while deterring the universality of salvation believed by King. Albeit; Dr. King was a Christian, he also upheld the ideology that Christianity was not the only means of salvation. I guess that would be too much ammunition to us non-believers.

Krauthammer also took issue with "transcending all forms of sectarianism to achieve a common humanity" (universalism) in order to complain that the monument didn't have enough reference to "America" in the MLK quotations etched within the stone walls. He, and others, didn't like the ideas of a Chinese man designing and sculpting this memorial much either! Too many socialist overtones...ha